Kinderdijk
★ 4.8🇳🇱 KinderdijkSuggested visit Half a dayBest season April to October, when boats and museums operate
World HeritageWindmillsHydraulic engineering
Nineteen windmills in a row along drainage canals, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1997.
Overview
About 15 kilometres south-east of Rotterdam and built around 1740, Kinderdijk comprises nineteen windmills built to pump water from the low-lying polders into the Lek. They stand in orderly rows along two canals, making a remarkably composed landscape. Two mills are open as museums showing how the sails drove the water wheels, and boats run along the canals in summer.
History
Built for long-term drainage and flood control, it is a landmark of Dutch hydraulic engineering; electric pumping stations replaced them from the 1920s and the mills turned to preservation and tourism.
Highlights
- •The row of nineteen windmills
- •The interior of the mill museum
- •Canal boat trips
- •Reflections at sunset
Practical tips
- •Cycling or a boat gives the best experience
- •It is flat and exposed — bring a windproof layer
Practical information
- Best time
- April-October
- Tickets
- Entry about EUR 10; boats separate
- Opening hours
- 9:00-17:30
- Local food
- Dutch cheese, stroopwafels, pea soup
- Getting around
- About 30 to 45 minutes from Rotterdam by waterbus or bus.
- Visa
- A Schengen visa is required; apply about one month in advance.
Traveller reviews
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